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Snow Joke As Soccer Grinds to a Standstill

Published by Ian John on December 22, 2010

We were all looking forward to this footballing weekend. Liverpool and Fulham clashing Saturday evening, Chelsea and United in a huge clash Sunday and then on Friday night, the weather intervened and ensured that only a fortunate few fixtures avoided the dreaded postponement.

Yes, Friday evening football fans across the UK were swept by snowfall once again. This time it was the western side of the country that was hit first with the snow moving inland and southerly. It seemed no part of the country, other than the North East was spared, as the snow ravaged the fixture list. Only three out of ten fixtures in the EPL were played due to the weather, Sunderland defeating Bolton thanks to Danny Welbeck’s diving header, Blackburn and West Ham fighting out a 1-1 draw at Ewood and then on Monday, Manchester City threw away the chance of going top by losing 2-1 at home to David Moyes Everton.

As such, news from the EPL has been particularly quiet and as we enter the Festive season in earnest, this has tended to be termed ‘news’ in the most loosest of fashion. For example, Birmingham City players cancelled their Christmas party and this was reported as “breaking news” by Sky News. What next? A newsflash because Alex McLeish forgot to leave his milkman a Christmas bonus? An in depth news special on why Sir Alex Ferguson chose Morrisons Turkey over Tesco’s this year?

As you know, I always try to do a little festive article or two to brighten Christmas and that article will follow over the next couple of days. But for now, lets look at the REAL news in the EPL this week.

The Carlos Tevez saga rumbles on with seemingly no accord in sight. Tevez wants to go, Mancini wants him to stay. No club could afford to sign him anyway and the player is adhering to his contract. It may not be a happy marriage but it is the best City have until they decide Tevez can be sold and they can recoup some money. Given their showing on Monday night however, Tevez at least looks like he will not just throw in the towel, his effort levels were still excellent, but City need more support for him in attack than they have at present.

Or do they? Increasingly, City’s lack of title power seems to stem not from playing personnel, but managerial. Roberto Mancini’s safety first policy seems to work well away from home, but at Eastlands it is not paying dividends. A slow start saw Everton go into a two goal lead and despite a spirited second half fightback, this is a huge three points lost for City in the title race and shows why Tevez does need better support in attack than the talented but, my god what an attitiude, Balotelli.

Transfer speculation has been rife once again as we approach the transfer window. My favourite rumours this week include Newcastle’s battering-ram striker Andy Carroll being linked with Real Madrid and Manchester United. In another scoop about gangly strikers with an attitude problem, Liverpool are reportedly being linked with a £16m move for Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor. West Ham are being linked with a move for Spurs striker Robbie Keane, though Everton are said to be keen on Keane too. It’s hard to say who is keener actually.

Glen Johnson is continually being linked with a move away from Anfield. Strange that considering we have Paul Konchesky at left back and I know who I’d prefer to be moved on out of the Liverpool footballing full back fraternity. Chelsea want Tottenham’s Luka Modric for next season while Blackburn want Espanol striker Pablo Osvaldo, who scored a nifty goal against Barcelona at the weekend. Still, didn’t help Espanol too much as they lost 4-1 to a Pedro inspired Barcelona, who themselves are being linked with Denilson, probably to keep Javier Mascherano company on the bench most games.

Liverpool also want Shaun Wright Phillips, infact there is a rumour going around that Liverpool will sell the naming rights to their new stadium and rename it “Man City Cast offs”. Steven Ireland looks set to leave Aston Villa after falling out with Gerrard Houllier, Celtic seems his most likely destination as Everton are not going to be able to afford the £8m asking price. Frederic Piquionne has revealed he will NOT be leaving West Ham in January, which will come as a relief to the other 19 Premier League sides.

And in this season of goodwill, let us not forget that over the next couple of weeks, most teams will play 3 or 4 games which could have a huge impact on how the season turns out. By the start of 2011, we may well have a very good idea om just which teams may be champions come May.

Image Courtesy of ***garden_shed 2010 *** on Photobucket.com

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